Rome News-Tribune

A resounding ‘Thank you!’

- By Mary M. Yarbrough

Floyd County volunteers, may I offer a resounding “Thank you!” to all of you who have stepped up to provide comfort items for our Floyd County foster and special needs children? Although the tactile emotional comfort items provided may not decrease the number of our children going into foster care in Floyd County, the articles made and donated by many of our county’s serving hands and loving hearts can greatly enhance the lives of those in foster care and children with special needs. Organizing and coordinati­ng ministries for the RomeFloyd County Commission on Children and Youth has been, and continues to be, one of the most fulfilling volunteer services in mine and my husband’s lives.

Blanket Buddies are gifted by DFCS to each child being placed in foster care. The child may have gone into foster care with only the clothes on his/her back; a Blanket Buddy will serve each during his/her traumatic life event as a tactile emotional comfort aide. The single-layer fleece fun-to-make blankets are being made by many gracious volunteers. A “Blanket Buddy and a Book” is a smaller Blanket Buddy gifted to a child being served by the Rome Exchange Club Family Resource Center Parent Aides for local at-risk families with in-house parent education and life skills training. The blankets encourage the families to cuddle and read while properly bonding with their child. Again, our county’s volunteers, 8 to 80 years, from church mission groups and individual­s, are committed to making the blankets for the toddler to elementary school age children.

The Fig Leaf Friends ministry provides donations of diapers and new underwear, socks, training bras and especially pajamas (children 7-12) to supplement the clean, gently-used clothing provided by donors to Restoratio­n Rome’s Clothes Closet for our county’s foster children.

Garden clubs, church mission groups, Sunday School classes and individual­s are generously supporting the Fig Leaf Friends ministry.

Ivey’s Octopals, a ministry to serve our county’s children with visual and hearing losses and other disabiliti­es, brought forward talented serving hands and loving hearts of individual­s and Rome Knitterati members to knit and crochet colorful Ivey’s Octopals to benefit these special children of God with their occupation­al and physical therapies while providing emotional and tactile comforts from the curling tentacles. Some 50 of the Ivey’s Octopals will be gifted to children who will benefit from having one by Babies Can’t Wait Northwest Georgia Department of Public Health and the Georgia Sensory Assistance Project (federally funded and under the University of Georgia College of Education and Communicat­ions).

Yes, these are our Floyd County foster children and children with special needs whose lives are being, and will continue to be, enhanced by our Floyd County volunteers who historical­ly are the very best as they volunteer to help foster and special needs children in our county. In blessing these children with our services, we will find the blessings returned to us.

As a volunteer with the Rome-Floyd County Commission on Children and Youth, I’d like to extend my ongoing appreciati­on to our exemplary Floyd County volunteers who have gone above and beyond the realm of simply volunteeri­ng by their making possible the creative promotiona­l logos, flyers and displays and by the generous commitment­s of church mission groups, Sunday School Classes and Church Outreach Programs and individual­s.

Our foster and special needs children need us; Floyd County’s volunteers will continue to share their time, talents and treasures with these special children of God because that is what we do in our Floyd County. Please join our volunteers in making a difference while serving together.

Joyously serving together with you in Christ!

The page’s content ranges from simple tips and precaution­s for community residents to memes and photos. Here are just a few posts. It’s obvious that many words are intentiona­lly misspelled and phrases intentiona­lly misused. But there are some who don’t realize the page is a satire page and are appalled by all the grammatica­l and spelling errors (which makes them even funnier) ...

“SPECIAL MASSAGE FROM PUBLIC SAFETY: It’s Valentine’s Day. When your out tonight and you see your significan­t other with his spouse, DO NOT confront him. Remain calm and speak with him later. Enjoy today with your spouse. Sumo’s, Red Lobster, and Waffle Houses will be packed. Traffic will be a nightmare. The last thing we want to do is mediate some Jerry-Springer style dispute. We would rather be giving out traffic tickets. Thank you for your Corporatio­n.” “How to drive in Rain in Rome Georgia. 1. Randomly Stop in the middle of the road for no reason.

2. When lights turn green, don’t move. Just sit there until the rain slows down. 3. Act like you’ve never driven before.” “Febuary begins tomorrow. We know most of you are gonna get huuuge income tax refunds. When y’all gonna be hood rich and eating fancy in Rome’s upscale restaurant­s, Chili’s, Applebee’s, Red Lobster, and Sonny’s. Don’t forget to get catched up your outstandin­g traffic fines, Water bills and property taxes. We could use the $$$”

“Roads are still icey out there. It’s to cold even Ugg boots and leggings ain’t keeping our women warm. These are just some of the exuses to stay home from school tomorrow. The school boreds will decide later today if they believe us.”

“It’s gonna snow tonight. Stay indoors, don’t go

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 ??  ?? Letters to the editor: Roman Forum, Post Office Box 1633, Rome, GA 30162-1633 or email romenewstr­ibune@RN-T.com
Letters to the editor: Roman Forum, Post Office Box 1633, Rome, GA 30162-1633 or email romenewstr­ibune@RN-T.com

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